Dixie Highway bridge to open to drivers Tuesday

DEERFIELD BEACH — It's been talked about for at least two decades. Now, after two years of construction, the new Dixie Highway flyover is ready to open to traffic.

Officials plan to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the span at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The $39.5 million, four-lane bridge carries Dixie over the Florida East Coast Railway, several Deerfield Beach streets and the Hillsboro Canal.

Broward and Palm Beach counties received federal economic stimulus money to pay for the construction.

Officials say they pushed for the span to eliminate a bottleneck where Dixie narrowed to two lanes through Deerfield Beach and crossed the tracks. They say it will ease travel between the two counties and serve as a hurricane evacuation route.

Dixie Highway is a four-lane divided road south of Hillsboro Boulevard and north of the Hillsboro Canal. But prior to the flyover's construction, the chunk from Hillsboro Boulevard to the canal was just two lanes.

Some residents call the flyover a waste of money because Dixie isn't heavily traveled.

"It was never busy," said John Bonani, of Boca Raton. "We spent $40 million to keep a handful of construction workers busy, build an eyesore and isolate an entire community."

A smaller bridge was built to carry Northeast Second Avenue over the canal. That bridge, which has been carrying two-way traffic, will become one-way southbound after the flyover opens and serve as a ramp for southbound Dixie drivers coming from Palm Beach County who want to go to downtown Deerfield Beach or Pioneer Park.

Although the flyover is finished, the entire project won't be completed until June.

Workers still have to install street lights, signs and landscaping, paint the bridge and put down permanent lane striping and a final layer of aspahlt.

After the flyover opens, the intersection of Northeast Second Avenue and Second Street will close for about four weeks while it is rebuilt with brick pavers.